


Conversations

by Creirdyddlydd



Series: Aftermath [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode Fix-It: s02e04 The Girl in the Fireplace, Ten and Reinette are NOT a couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 07:45:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19080592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creirdyddlydd/pseuds/Creirdyddlydd
Summary: Before being led to the fireplace, the Doctor has a much needed conversation with Reinette to clear up some misunderstandings.





	Conversations

**Author's Note:**

> So, I really wanted to write a short piece featuring the Doctor talking to Reinette right before she leads him back to the fireplace. Normally, this sort of thing would make my skin crawl, but then I realized I could fit it into my series of connected post-GitF stories (coming soon) and make it what _I_ thought it should be. And I managed not to bash Reinette (because really, besides being way too forward and presumptuous, none of it is actually her fault). Hooray for fanfiction!
> 
> Just a heads up, I watched the scene in question hoping I could find a good place to weave in my own conversation, but nope! So, I scrapped the original dialogue (which is entirely too flirty for my tastes anyway) and did my own thing.

Reinette slowly entered the room the Doctor was standing in. After the droids were shut down and everyone was accounted for and safe, he had disappeared and she’d been looking for him for the better part of an hour. 

She studied him from her spot in the doorway, the tense line of his shoulders, the way he stared out into the night sky, and her heart fell. He obviously didn’t want to be here. And why would he? He had been out there, gallivanting amongst the stars, and now he was stuck in one place and time. But maybe she could make it better for him, make him see it wasn’t all bad being confined to the slow path. 

“M’lord?”

He turned just slightly to see her over his shoulder and then went back to staring out the window without a word. 

Reinette came to stand next to him and looked out as well for a few moments. “I would love to see the stars.” There was no response to her statement, so she tried a different topic. “Have you trapped yourself here?”

The Doctor heaved a great sigh and nodded slightly. “Yeah,” he breathed out. “When I broke the connection to disable the droids, it meant I was stuck as well. Catch me doing that again.” He took a sip of the wine someone had pressed into his hands earlier. He hadn’t tasted it until now, just holding it mindlessly as his mind whirled over how to get home. Home to his TARDIS and life among the stars. Home to Rose. God, what had he done? 

Reinette took a giant leap, hoping to not only comfort the Doctor, but satisfy her curiosity as well. “Could I be a comfort to you?”

There was no response and she tried again. “Do you not desire me? My lonely angel?”

The Doctor turned to look at her, eyes never straying from her face. “You’re lovely, Reinette.” He offered a tiny smile. “But that’s not enough for my people.” 

He cursed himself again. He had toyed with this woman’s affections, knowing she fancied him, in an effort to put distance between himself and Rose. After nearly confessing his love to her in front of that chippy a week ago, he panicked and was running. Running away from the woman he wanted to run to, if he wasn’t such a coward. He would be unbelievably lucky if Rose forgave him for this. _‘If I ever see her again,’_ a dark part of his mind whispered maliciously.

“What else is there?” The honest curiosity in Reinette’s voice made him answer her truthfully.

“There has to be love. A lot of people separate sex and love. They can sleep with various people while their heart belongs to another. I’m not one of them. I have to love someone to be able to...be intimate with them.”

“And you don’t love me.”

The slight tremor to her voice made the Doctor hate himself just a bit more. “You have to understand. To you, it’s been your whole life, seeing me pop in every now and then to make sure you’re okay. For me, it’s been less than a day.”

Reinette turned back to the window and the stars, taking a few minutes to organize her thoughts. Did she love the Doctor? Sure, her whole life she had fancied him, knew he was charming and beautiful, liked that he came to her rescue. But did she know him enough to love him?

His favorite color, favorite composer, favorite book, how he took his tea, his preferred meals, she didn’t know any of those things. When she thought about it, she didn’t know this man, at all. When she had managed to peek into his mind, all she’d seen was a meadow of red grass, a lonely boy, star names scrolling by and the face of the woman who had come to tell her years ago that the Doctor would come for her.

“You do love _her_ , though.”

When all she got was a confused frown, she smiled bitterly. “The woman who came to deliver your message years ago. You love her.”

He wasn’t about to confess this for the first time to someone else. The first time he was brave enough to utter the words or even confirm them, he wanted it to be with Rose in front of him. 

Reinette waited for a response for some time. When it appeared none was coming, she asked another question. “When you were in my head, I felt a spike of anger and then you pulled away as soon as you realized I had done the same. Why?”

“You shouldn’t have been able to get in. Most humans aren’t telepathic, so I wasn’t expecting it and my shields weren’t as strong as they should have been. You’re not supposed to enter the mind of another without permission.” She didn’t understand the rules of telepathy, so it wasn’t entirely her fault and he was trying to be calm about it. But he still felt violated and couldn’t reel in his angry tone completely.

Reinette recoiled slightly at the cold voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

With a sigh and employing his gift of deflection, the Doctor began to ramble. He didn’t want to continue talking about her stolen moment in his mind. “Should be able to find another me telepathically. Could take a while, but then we can use the TARDIS to reappear just seconds after I left Rose. No harm done. Now, I’ll need a quiet place to concentrate…,” he trailed off as Reinette held out her hand.

“Come with me.”

Curious, he took her hand and allowed her to lead him from the room. The hand he grasped now may be small and soft, but it didn’t fit right, it lacked the warmth of Rose’s hand, the confident way she swiped her thumb over his for comfort, the way she held on like she never wanted to let go. He missed that hand. He missed Rose. It had only been little more than an hour but knowing it would possibly be years before he saw her again made him ache. 

“Where are we going?”

A few steps later, Reinette turned and smiled as she wordlessly gestured for him to enter a room. He took in the giant bed dominating the center of the room and swallowed hard. “Uh…I just…I told you I don’t…,” he stammered.

Reinette shook her head with an amused smile. “No. Look.” She tilted her head to indicate the fireplace. “It’s not a replica. It’s the exact same one. I had it moved here and was specific in every detail.”

The Doctor’s face lit up in understanding and a smile bloomed as he bounded over to it. “Oh, if I’m lucky, if I’m very, very lucky…,” he trailed off as he tapped at the fireplace and then his grin widened. “Need to get a man in!” He banged on the top of the mantle and stepped up to head home. “Wish me luck!”

Reinette knew she didn’t love him, logically. But logic and the heart rarely agree. She knew if he stayed, she would truly fall for him. She didn’t have to know him more than she did to realize he was a remarkable man. “No,” she whispered.

The Doctor’s face fell slightly. He didn’t want to leave her broken-hearted, thinking his life was all danger and misery. Maybe one trip, just to show her there was beauty out there, not just metal droids looking to kill. Before he had fully formed the idea, or thought it out, he was crouching down in front of the fireplace. “Madame du Pompadour!”

She knelt in front of the fireplace. “Yes?”

“Still want to see those stars?” At her excited smile, he continued. “Pick a star and pack a bag. Back in two minutes!”

But he didn’t make it in time to deliver on his promise and had to head back to the TARDIS alone. What he wanted to do, was sweep Rose into another hug and hold her close – preferably for the next century - but the heartbreak on her face made him pause. “Why her?”

_“Why her?”_ It was a question that meant so many things. Why were the androids after her? Why were you so fascinated by her? Why did you abandon me and everything we’ve been through…for her?

He knew what she meant, but she had it wrong. He didn’t leave her for Reinette, but with Mickey standing there he didn’t want to get into that discussion, so he answered the question the easiest way. 

“Guess we’ll never know. There was too much damage to the ship to learn much about it.” He started the dematerialization sequence, hoping just getting them into the Vortex would ease the tension from everyone. 

After a few seconds of heavy, awkward silence, Rose spoke again. “Are you all right?”

The Doctor glanced over at Rose, slightly surprised. “I’m always all right.” He turned back to the controls to finish getting them off the ship. He saw Rose looking at him worriedly, but he really was fine. The adventure had been rough, but he wasn’t as torn up as Rose seemed to think. 

As Mickey tugged her from the console room, the Doctor let out a deep breath. He’d find her later and explain it all.


End file.
